Horsing Around
With pun intended, the UC Santa Barbara women's soccer team will do some horsing around this week. On Wednesday, the Gauchos will travel north to play a mid-week non-conference game against 9th-ranked Santa Clara. On Saturday, they will return to Harder Stadium and Big West play when they host Cal Poly. Both matches kickoff at 7:00 p.m. Traditionally one of the nation's most powerful programs, the Broncos will enter Wednesday's match with a record of 8-3-2. UCSB and SCU have not met since the 1996 season and the Broncos hold a narrow lead in the series having gone 8-7-3. The Mustangs enter play this week with a 4-8-1 overall record, but since losing their Big West opener in overtime to UC Riverside, they have won consecutive league contests and are now 2-1 in the Big West.

The Gauchos Hit 25
The 2007 season is the the 25th intercollegiate campaign for the UC Santa Barbara women's soccer program. The Gauchos first laced up their shoes as an intercollegiate program in 1983. Prior to 1983, UCSB had been a club program.

On The Record
UCSB enters the week with an overall record of 5-7-2 and a Big West mark of 2-1. The Gauchos lost a pair of matches last weekend, both by the score of 2-1. On Thursday night, the UCSB carried a 1-0 lead into the final 20 minutes against Pepperdine, but the Waves scored a pair of goals in the closing minutes to record the victory. On Sunday, Santa Barbara returned to Big West play in a road match at UC Irvine. After trailing early, the Gauchos tied the score at 1-1 in the final minute of the first half, but the Anteaters scored just seconds into the second half and that was the way it ended, 2-1.

On The StumpfPaul Stumpf is in his ninth season as the head coach at UC Santa Barbara. He enters this week's action with a record of 86-66-19. His total of 86 wins ranks second on UCSB's all-time list. Last season, he guided the Gauchos to a 7-7-6 overall record, including a 5-1-1 record in the Big West, good enough to tie for the regular season championship. Stumpf has led the program to records of .500 or better in six of the last seven seasons, including four straight seasons of 10 or more victories, the first time the program accomplished that feat since 1988-91. In 1999, Stumpf's first season as the head coach at UCSB, he took a team that was selected to finish last in the conference, but instead posted an 8-9-1 overall record and a 5-4 mark in the Big West. Following the season, he was chosen as the Big West's Coach of the Year. He has, in fact, guided the Gauchos to a top-three league finish in six of the last seven seasons. Before arriving in Santa Barbara as an assistant coach in 1998, Stumpf spent two seasons as an assistant at Humboldt State. In addition, the San Diego native spent several years coaching club teams in the Santa Rosa area.

A Pattern Emerges
A pattern has emerged to the UCSB season. After splitting their first two matches of the season, the Gauchos have settled into a routine. In each of the last six weekends, the team has played two matches, and each weekend, the results of each match as been the same. Following the split on opening weekend, UCSB has lost two in Wisconsin, tied two against 2006 NCAA Tournament teams in Santa Barbara, won two, including an overtime victory over San Diego State, lost two in Washington, won two league games at home and lost two, a non-conference game and a league match.

Saluting The Seniors
UCSB will salute its seven seniors prior to Saturday evening's home game against Cal Poly. While the Gauchos will have one home match remaining after the Saturday encounter with the Mustangs, they have opted to honor the seniors a week early. The seven players who will be wrapping up their careers over the next few weeks are goalkeeper Katie Wright, defenders Kandice Mclaughlin, Katrina Wright, Katie Dwyer and Jessie Steinberg, and midfielders Romy Barber and Kathleen Prieto. While Steinberg, Barber and Prieto are listed as juniors, they each redshirted a season and are actually seniors based on their academic class. Each of the seven has been a starter at one time during their careers. Katie Wright is currently the starting goalkeeper, while McLaughlin and Katrina Wright start defensively and Barber starts in the midfield.

Big West Streak Ends At UC Irvine
With its 2-0 start to the Big West schedule, UCSB had extended a streak that has stretched more than a year. Dating back to the 2006 season, the Gauchos had gone unbeaten in eight consecutive Big West Conference matches, recording a 7-0-1 record over that span. The streak was ended on Sunday at UC Irvine when the Anteaters defeated UCSB, 2-1.

They're Not Booing, They're Yelling Kugler
Freshman Kailyn Kugler is listed in the UCSB media guide as a midfielder/forward/defender. Regardless of position, she was not really expected to play a major role in her first season for the Gauchos. Time and injuries, however, changed the landscape. Kugler has emerged as the top offensive threat for UCSB and among the top in the Big West. She scored had a hand in both of the Gauchos' goals last week, assisting on the goal against Pepperdine and scoring the goal at UC Irvine. Kugler has now scored a team-leading six goals, four of which have come in three league games. She is tied for second in the Big West in goals and with two assists she has 14 points, ranking fourth in that category. In the past four matches, the San Clemente, Calif., native has either scored or assisted on five of the team's last eight goals.

Giving Speace A Chance
While Kailyn Kugler has made a difference on the forward line, another Gaucho freshman has had an impact on the back line. Julia Speace, also a native of San Clemente, Calif., was inserted into the starting lineup in the fifth game of the season and she's been there since. Because of injuries, Speace joined a veteran crew of defenders that includes seniors Kandice Mclaughlin and Katrina Wright, and junior Rachael Ritchey, and she has fit in perfectly. In her 10 starts, UCSB has allowed 10 goals and posted a 0.94 goals against average.

Stoltz Breaks Through
Sophomore midfielder Sarah Stoltz is one of just four UCSB players to have started all 14 matches this season. The native of nearby Ojai, Calif., finally broke through for her first career goal in the Gauchos' Oct. 11 match against Pepperdine. As a freshman in 2006, Stoltz played in all 20 matches, starting three and assisting on a pair of goals. Through 12 matches this season, she had one assist an no goals on 13 shots. On her 14th shot of the season, however, Stoltz scored her first career goal.

The Young And The Restless
With Kailyn Kugler's six goals leading the way, more than half of UCSB's goals this season have been scored by freshmen. In addition to Kugler's six, Jacqui Simon has notched a pair and Brooke Salyer has scored once. If you toss in the goal scored by sophomore Sarah Stoltz, freshmen and sophomores have combined for 10 of the team's 17 goals on the season.

The Aged Lend A Helping Hand
While it has been the freshmen and sophomores scoring 10 of the Gauchos' 17 goals on the season, juniors and seniors have combined for 11 of the 19 assists. Senior defender Katrina Wright leads the team with four assists on the season. Juniors Michelle Russell and Sami Svrcek have contributed two each, while Kandice Mclaughlin, Romy Barbar and Linda Allen each have one.

On The Horizon
Following this weekend's games, the Gauchos will travel north for a Big West match at Pacific. UCSB will play the Tigers in Stockton at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26, before returning home for the final home match of the 2007 season at noon on Sunday, Oct. 28 against UC Davis.